Bill Cobb, of BMW Classic, uncovers the Alexander Calder painted 1975 BMW CSL. Cobb is the only one allowed to move this one of a kind race car art piece. The Calder car was the first of the BMW art cars. The car was raced once in the 1975 24 Hours of LeMans, then was retired to become a exhibition piece. The 19th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance was held at Ritz-Carlton on Sunday March 9, 2014 in Amelia Island, FL.

DeAna Ruiz, dressed in period clothing, rides in a 1937 Horch as part of the fashion show presented by Sandra Alford. The car was raced once in the 1975 24 Hours of LeMans, then was retired to become a exhibition piece. The 19th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance was held at Ritz-Carlton on Sunday March 9, 2014 in Amelia Island, FL.

Racer Jochen Mass joked that “It works!” after the red and white open-wheel car snarled its welcome at the 19th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, then he reacted to being the honoree with so many of his former race cars on display.

“These cars, I have never seen many of them and I am absolutely stunned by this,” the Formula 1, sports car and prototype racer said. “… It is like a once-in-a-lifetime dream. I feel like a child in a pre-Christmas gift store.”

Seven hours later, two of 325 classics viewed on the fairways outside the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island by an estimated 29,000 won the coveted Best in Show.

A blue 1958 Scarab Meister Brauser I racer was named Best in Show Sport. Naples-based owner Miles Collier said he was “delighted” after champagne was sprayed and trophies presented.

“Who would have imagined after walking around the field and seeing so many spectacular racing cars?” he said.

A sleek silver 1937 Horch 853 Cabriolet owned by Bob and Anne Brockinton Lee of Sparks, Nev., won Best in Show Concours d’Elegance.

“I am so excited,” Anne Brockinton Lee said. “… It is a beautiful car and it was restored completely in-house by our restoration team, finished in 2009. It is a one-off.”

The classic car event includes an annual RM Auction of classic cars, seminars and a Saturday car club show event, and has raised more than $2.2 million for Community Hospice of Northeast Florida and other charities since it began. Named Octane Magazine’s 2013 Motoring Event of the Year, Warner said this year’s show may have been their best collection of cars ever.

“The weather was beautiful, the crowd was unbelievable, and the cars — I look here and wonder what are we going to do next year,” he said. “The volunteers and teams on the field worked their rear ends off.”

The concours celebrated the 100th anniversaries of the American Underslung car line and Maserati, the 50th anniversary of McLaren and included rare Chrysler concept cars like the space-age 1963 Chrysler Turbine. The “Beach Cars” class included Bruce Meyers’ first Manx dune buggy.

“It looks like there are twice as many people as there were two years ago. It’s quite a crew of people and there are more cars,” the Porsche Club member said. “It is a great show and I am very satisfied.”

Don Culpepper, an admitted car nut since he was a teen, has missed only four concours.

“They keep getting better,” the Mandarin man said. “There are multiple features here and it is a great, great show.”

Classic automobile expert McKeel Hagerty called this one a “masterpiece” with something for everyone.

“It manages to curate the most interesting eclectic mix of the best of the best, but also these under-sung, sometimes lost cars,” he said.